That's not what I meant

Kaddi and I saw this ad posted on the bulletin board as we walked through the activities center the other day. I can think of two possible interpretations:

1) This is another case of English as a second-language, and the person is really advertising an available 'space' in their house.

2) There have been serious changes in the honour code since I was a student.

May-ggie Scrumptios Day

(A post by Kaddi)

May Day Extravaganza

It is that time of year when elementary schools in the U.S. put on their end of the year musical programs. I have been especially excited for Jake and Megs May Day performance because since the very first day that we arrived here in Hawaii I have heard wonderful things about the elementary May Day program. Today was the day. The kids had to get up very early this morning so that we could get them to school to prepare their costumes and make-up. Meg has been talking about this event for weeks now. She was constantly wanting me to watch her dance, but I tried to get her to save a little for a surprise.

Shane was not able to go to the program b/c he had a lecture to give at the exact time of the performance, so Luke and I were on our own. Most of the elementary schools in Hawaii would be performing their May Day programs in hot and crowed gyms or school cafeterias, but since we live in Laie our kids were able to perform at the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center). It has a wonderful stage with lights, sounds, special effects and waterfalls. As I sat in my seat with Luke I teared up as I always do when my kids are involved in something like this. This moment was a marker in the countdown to the end of the school year. I am always sad at the thought of my children moving on. I want them to stay young and innocent forever. Jake will be in sixth grade next year-the end to his elementary career, then he will embark on the dreaded journey to jr. high. Meg will be in the third grade, I hope that her excitement for life will continue with each passing year.

Before the show began I had a little talk with Luke. I knew that if he got upset I would not have Shane there to pass him off to and it would be just my luck that he would squeal right at the time of Jake or Megs number. He was actually very cooperative. He ate, slept, slobbered and then ate again. He was very good, except for the fact that some of my film footage is a little shaky due to Luke trying to capture the camera and slobber all over it. I did the best I could and actually got some great pictures and movie moments.

Megs class and the other second graders represented New Zealand. For weeks Meg has been very excited but at the same time fretting over her poi ball routine. In typical Meg fashion right after the show was over she was so sad that it was through and wanted to perform again. Jakes fifth grade represented the Cook Islands. Jake was not as enthused. A girl in Jakes class was sick and was not able to perform and I commented that it was sad that she would miss the performance. Jake thought she was lucky and described how terrible it was to have to wait and watch the other performers until his classes turn. The show was quite the success and lived up to what I had been told. The costumnes were very ellaborate with feathers and jewelery. All the children were very adorable and I was sad that Shane had to miss this moment.

As I sat there and watched the show I couldn't help but feel greatful for this experience that we have had here. WE've had difficult moments but also wonderful moments too. I was so proud of Jake and Meg for continuing to travel to and fro making their best effort to fit in and make friends where ever we are. They amaze me and make me so very, very proud. sniff, sniff.

Sit back and enjoy our May Day.

(Editor's Note: Here are some clips from Meg's performance. Jake's dance and others pictures will follow.)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The wrist-shot

Yesterday everyone was going different direction. Kaddi went down to Kaneohe to take Meg to her dentist appointment. Jake was playing at a friends house. I was in my happy place, locked away in my office working on my dissertation. Life was simple.

This tranquility was interrupted by a phone call from a neighbour. It seemed Jake had fallen off his rip-stick and really hurt himself. I put down the phone and headed out the door to pick him up. Just as I crossed the street a friend raced up in his car with Jake in the back. He informed me that it looked like Jake had broken his wrist. In the middle of the street two dads tried to decide what to do. We decided to see if the student clinic would take him.

They wouldn't. We have Kaiser health care, which doesn't have a contract with the BYUH clinic. They informed us we'd have to go down to Moana Lua valley or over to Mililani. Both would involved an hour drive, and since it was now rush hour we were looking at ninety minutes. That's a long time for a boy with a broken wrist. Once again I thought back fondly on my youth filled with hockey, snowball fights, and socialized medicine.

We decided to take him to the Kahuku hospital emergency room, which was only ten minutes away. They don't have a contract with Kaiser, but it was the only real option. They admitted him and gave him some medicine for the pain, then x-rayed his arm. The doctor informed us it was a clean break of the radius above the growth plate. Pretty soon we had Jake on a morphine drip, and he was feeling groovy.



I knew I had to give Kaddi a call, but didn't have a cel phone. Finally I was able to borrow a cel phone from a friend, but neither Jake nor I could remember our home phone number (It changed a month ago). Finally, I got a hold of Kaddi on her cel phone and she came down to the hospital. I was so proud of Jake. I knew how painful it must have been for him, but he fought back the tears while riding to the hospital with his friends in the car. Even when it was just him and I he still kept a brave face. But when Kaddi finally arrived the flood gates opened. It was like a teary kablaamo. Something about having your mom around...

So now he's home and will miss a week of school. He has a splint now for a few days until the swelling goes down. He spends a lot of time on the couch watching Disney channel with a bag of peas on his wrist. On Thursday he'll get his cast, which I hear they make in different colours now. And I guess the ripstick will go into the closet.

(Editor's Note: Two days before this happened we were at a softball game where Meg fell out of a tree and landed on her back. The only thing hurt was her pride - proving once again, that the world belongs to Meg.)

The Devourer

Luke and I watch a lot of tv together. This week we happened to catch Michael Moore on Larry King (I'm a big fan of both). Moore began by talking about HBO, how the network was producing the most interesting shows on television, and how the government should ensure that every household in America can get HBO. It was the most reasonable argument he made the entire hour.

After 3-4 minutes, Luke tried to end the misery by chewing off his own foot.

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Hawaii: The American Tibet

Tomorrow is May Day here in Hawaii. At the Polynesian Cultural Center all the kids from Laie elementary will be putting on special Polynesian dances that they've been practicing all year. Unfortunately, I'll be lecturing on the caste system and conflict between Dravidians and Aryans in India and miss the whole thing.

Lousy full-time employment...

Meanwhile, I truly enjoy watching the Olympic torch circle the globe. What an inspiring sight it is to see the flame carried by a runner guarded by the three divisions of the People's Liberation Army. It must really be a thrill for some of those soldiers to put a beatdown on Free-Tibet protestors from several continents.



Poor 'Free Tibet' protestors. I have such good memories of students marching around the Memorial Library at Wisconsin, carrying their signs advocating an independent Tibetan homeland. After all, we can't shut our eyes to the plight of the Tibetans. "Kids, are you getting all this plight?"

I just have one question. Can someone explain to me why Tibet would be so much better off if it were independent?

I realize that denouncing China is only slightly less popular than denouncing the United States, but if you look at the history of Tibet before 1950 - it's a mess. In many ways, the Chinese have improved the quality of life for ordinary Tibetans.

Consider:

China invaded Tibet in 1950. From 1951 to 2007, the Tibetan population in Lhasa administered Tibet has increased from 1.2 million to almost 3 million. The GDP of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) today is thirty times that of before 1950. Workers in Tibet have the second highest wages in China. The TAR has 22,500 km of highways, as opposed to none in 1950. All secular education in the TAR was created after the Chinese revolution. The TAR now has 25 scientific research institutes as opposed to none in 1950. Infant mortality has dropped from 43% in 1950 to 0.661% in 2000. The United Nations reports an infant mortality rate of 35.3 per thousand in 2000. Life expectancy has risen from 35.5 years in 1950 to 67 in 2000.

I know, I know...it's all about self-determination, that magical buzz-word of Wilsonian democracy. But what does that phrase really mean? For example...

Two days ago a Hawaii sovereignty group known as the Hawaiian kingdom took control of Iolani palace, the former residence of the Hawaii royal family and a major tourist attraction. They announced to the press that they had taken this action in order to draw attention to the Hawaii's status as an territory illegally occupied by the United States. The group would like to secede from the USA, restore the monarchy, and return to an authentic (pre-1893) existence.



But why stop there? Why not go back to the time before Kamehameha (the original imperialist), when each island was a separate kingdom? Surely, the farther we go back the closer we'll get to pure Hawaiian culture. Everything will be better off if we just eliminate those contaminating aspect of western imperialism. First to go - democracry, Christianity, electricity, and the internal combustible engine. Oh, what a paradise it will be when Hawaii is once again a society of small villages, taro fields, and fish ponds.

Tibet will just have to liberate itself without my help. When I get back to Madison, I'm starting a "Free Hawaii" club.

The People's Professor

The semester is now over. Graduating seniors are saying their good-byes and gathering up their things to head home. I get to spend the week grading final exams and research papers. My History 201 exams have a question on the importance of Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, who re-conquered Jerusalem and drove the Crusaders out of the Holy Land. One of the students answered the question with the following statement:

"Saladin was one of the greatest Saltines in the history of the Islamic world."

Another student answered the question about Leif Ericson by pointing out how he discovered 'New Finland.' For heaven's sakes, if high school aren't teaching kids how to spell Newfoundland, what are they teaching these days?!!

Ah, well. Perhaps they'll do better taking the class the second time around. But this week hasn't been only about painfully bad writing and historical inaccuracies. This morning I went down to Kaneohe with Kaddi, and when I returned to my office in the afternoon I found an envelope on my desk. Inside was a card from some students and this picture:



This the crew from my history 485 Class: Authoritarian regimes in Southeast Asia. It covers approaches to the end of colonialism, patron-client relationships, the 'failure' of democracy, and the rise of military dictatorships. We discussed all the great dictators: Ferdinand Marcos, Pol Pot, Ne Win, Suharto, Sukarno, and Sarit.

The class got off to a rough start as the laxadaisical BYUH approach clashed with my Wisconsin graduate school mentality. I've since learned that the students were really afraid of me for the first month (at least), but gradually they came to learn that I was not out to destroy them and began to appreciate the lessons of dictatorship, genocide, and revolution in SEA.

I now have that picture framed an sitting in my office. It has clever captions for each of the students reflecting their behavior and attitudes in class. I felt the drawing was amazingly real, especially the way it captured me as being both scholarly AND buff.


I'm still waiting for my card from the 201 students. I guess they must have mailed it.

Triumph of the Will

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Feel the Love

As our time in Hawaii grows short we've begun contemplating our third move in three years. Jake is counting down the days. Meg wants to live in a real house. Both are excited to see their cousins in California and Canada this summer. But whether we return to Madison or go some place new this year, the kids will probably have to start over yet again and make new friends.

The other day while we were in the car I was discussing this fact with Meg. I was asking is she was nervous to go to another new school next year. She said that she would like to go back to Madison to see her friends from kindergarten. So, I explained that I knew it was hard to start over, and I was sorry we had to move so often. She look at me with those tender little girl eyes I love so much.

"That's okay, dad" she assured me. "It's not your fault you can't find a job."

The burden of the past

The last Saturday that Rachy-Rach was still here in Hawaii we loaded everyone into the car and headed off to visit Pearl Harbor. It was nice to have an excuse to spend a day at the Arizona Memorial, since we've been here eight months already. I had hoped to go last month when another family member visited, but that anonymous person went without us. He's kind of a CEO bigshot and probably didn't want our little family slowing him down while he hob-knobbed with important state officials. Anyway, I'm glad Rachel didn't mind going with us.

As anyone who has visited it knows, Pearl Harbor is not a light-hearted experience. As we walked from the car towards the visitor's center a national parks official flagged us down to inform us that we couldn't take in any bags into the buildings. He also reminded us that the memorial was a cemetery and so we should instruct our children to act accordingly. After giving the kids a stern warning and stuffing my pockets full of diapers, wipes, and Desitin, we were ready to experience history.

Despite our best intentions to treat the proceedings with an appropriately somber demeanor, I had a hard time at the beginning of the film. Before watching the documentary on the events of December 7, 1941, a park official introduces the film. This guy delivered a dramatic monologue that combined an exagerated melancholy tone with a truly flamboyant sense of gay-ness. The effect was so comical it became impossible to listen to his account, and I had to look away in order to maintain my stoic expression. My mind recalled a similar experience once...long ago...at a ward talent show.

Still, for a history student Pearl Harbor is a fascinating site of memory. The film does an excellent job telling the narrative of Japan's decision to attack the United States naval base in Hawaii. The Japanese never intended to invade the U.S., only to put its navy out of commission for a period of eighteen months. They hoped to complete their conquest of Southeast Asia and China without American interference. By the time the US had rebuilt its navy, the task of dislodging the Japanese from their strongholds would hopefully be too daunting. But the attack at Pearl Harbor was actually a bigger disaster for Japan than for the United States. The aircraft carriers were not present, and the perceived treachery united public opinion in favor of war, while silencing the isolationists. There is mounting evidence that Roosevelt knew of the attack beforehand, but didn't warn his admirals because he felt America would need to get its nose bloodied before it could present a united front against the Axis.

For Hawaiians, Pearl Harbor represents a different type of loss. During the war between the states, Hawaiian planters grew rich from selling sugar cane to the Union. After the war, Louisiana sugar barons moved to protect their domestic market by demanading that the federal government place tariffs on all imported sugar. In desperation, the sugar lobby in Hawaii offered Washington Pearl Harbor as a naval base in exchange for free access to American markets. Under pressure from white planters, the king signed Pearl Harbor over to the US navy. Many Hawaiians have still not forgiven whites for this historical injustice.

Some of them periodically exact revenge by beating up little red-headed fifth graders.

Auntie Rachel

At long last I have time to post the events that have been so highly anticipated by 301NIB viewers in the metropolitan Vancouver area - Rachel's visit to Hawaii. It's the first time I've seen my little sister since Christmas 2005. Also the first time she's come to visit us since we lived in another tiny apartment in Provo. She and I once worked as illegal immigrants at an Asian buffet restaurant that no longer exists, where she proceeded to consume vast amounts of fried chicken-based products (and avoid the croutons).

It was great to have Rachel around for the week. In some ways, it was just like when we were kids. She'd pass out in front of the Letterman show with cheese-doodle dust all over her face. Then sleep til noon. Then wake up and start eating my mini-eggs. Then she'd sit and 'bounce' on the couch while I practiced piano. Then when she got really fussy I'd lock her in her room.

*sigh*....good times.

Bright Copper Kettles

Last weekend one of our favorite movies aired on abc family, The Sound of Music. Meg saw the previews for it and begged to watch it, yet again. One of the kids favorite parts of the movie is when the Vontrapp children are frightened by the storm and run into Marias room. She then settles them all down with a song about her favorite things. I am always flabbergasted when I hear the line about bright copper kettles. How in the world could that be on someones list of favorite things? I guess if you were preparing to enter into an abby and become a nun that a shiny kettle might brighten your day. But I wonder if this song would have been sung towards the end of the movie if Maria would have been singing about kissing Captain Von-hottie in the garden? Anyway this got me to thinking about some of my favorite things. Specifically my favorite things about living in Hawaii. I'll start with number 11 and work to number 1 (which I'm sure will be no surprise)

11. I love that Shane is only a 5 minute walk from home, that when I need a break from Lucky Lukie or whatever the case maybe that he can be home quickly.

10. I love that my kids can wear old t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops to school and not worry if they are in fashion.

9. I love that everytime there is a church, school or community function there is always a musical program.

8. I love how Hawaiians make pork. Yuummm! They bury a pig underground and then several other steps which I can't recall, anyway when I get it it's shredded and is absolutely terrific.

7. I love the fact that we have a perfect view of the temple right outside our apt. window.

6. I love our tiny movie theatre in our little Laie shopping center. It only shows two movies, but they are always family movies and it's only $3.00

5. I love that it is green year round. It's always beautiful.

4. I love visiting the PCC. We went there a couple weeks ago with Shanes parents. WE enjoyed their Luau and nightshow as well. It was kind of an ephony. It wasn't until that day that I felt like I was in Hawaii. I actually felt like I was on vacation. We have been here since August 07, but we have been doing so much day to day stuff that I often forgot where I was living. Anyway it was great.

3. I love that everyone wants to come and visit us. Wisconsin was not very tempting for some, Thailand was a little far, expensive and unknokwn, but Hawaii, who doesn't want to come to Hawaii.

2. I love the fact that my kids can play outside all day everyday. Wow it makes such a difference. Thailand was unbearably hot and humid, Wisconsin had too long of a winter and got dark very early. Hawaii is just perfect. There is a pleasant breeze almost everyday and if it get's too hot theres always the beach close by.

1. I'm sure this is not too surprising to anyone, but my most favorite thing about living in Hawaii is the beach. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's so close, it's free and it's a great activity for the family. I love the fact that when I drive down Kamehameha hwy. that the ocean and beach are 20 feet away. I love living so close to such natural beauty. Sometimes you can look out at the ocean and the water is 5 different shades of blue. If any of you have ever been here my most favorite beach is Waimea bay. The water is mostly calm and the surrounding mountains and trees are breathtaking.

Our time here is almost up and I know that I will not be sad to say goodbye to our shoe box apt but we have made some great memories here and I know that I will miss it.

Frightening Miss Muffet Away

Two days ago I was sitting in my office and got a frantic call from Kaddi. She had just returned home from picking the kids up at school. Upon getting out of the car she turned around to shut the door and noticed a cane spider crawling on outside of the car near the wheel well. This was enough to induce panic. She had Jake go into the house to get some Raid, but when she attempted to spray the spider it disappeared. Now she was uncertain whether the spider was actually in the car, or underneath, or where it had gone.

The cane spider is actually know as the Huntsman Spider, which came to Hawaii from Asia. They are reportedly quite timid, but will bite if attacked or sprayed with Raid. They like hanging out in the sugar cane fields and are really quite beneficial to humans because they eat cockroaches and silverfish. They have a knack for crawling into homes, sheds, or even vehicles before a storm. The night before we had a long rainstorm, and I would guess the spider found refuge by crawling up into the undercarriage of our car, and then inadvertently became a passenger on the way to school.

When I got home I checked over the car but couldn't find him. I hope he's gone back to the cane fields now. One day Kaddi might be traveling down the H-1 and look back to see Luke trying to force a big hairy brown spider into his mouth. That would be bad.

How charming am I?

Apparently, so charming that people love me even when I show up where I'm not invited and tell them things they don't normally like to hear.

Take Friday for example...

I was scheduled to meet Rachy-Rach, Kaddi and the kids at the activity center to do a little bowling. I arrived before everyone else and noticed the center was much more crowded than usual, but since there were still several lanes open I wasn't too concerned. As I watched a duo play Nintendo Wii tennis (I've got to get one of those) someone came up and said, "why don't you help yourself to some of the refreshments at the table?"

So I did. I sat munching my rice-crispie treats and looking around to see if the family had arrived. It was then that I noticed everyone else in the room seemed to share an similar ethnic heritate. Then I thought, "Hmmm...I don't remember anyone ever offering me refreshments any of the other times I camr bowling." On a hunch, I went back outside and looked to check for any announcements. There was a sign posted on the door that said:

"Closed for Private Party"

Just then the rest of the crew rolled up. While Kaddi and Rachel tried to decide on a backup activity, I sat catching up with Chalong. I noticed the little chubber had been bulking up big time and pointed this out to him. Normally this topic can lead to an awkward pause in the conversation, but for some reason (most likely my impeccable timing and delivery) he found this to be hilarious.

I'm a people person.

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Waimea Falls

On the final day of my parents visit we wanted to take full advantage of a beautiful day and head to Waimea Bay. It didn't go so well. The waves were so big that no one dared to get into the water. The trade winds came in and destroyed one of our beach umbrellas, then attempted to highjack the other. At one point I held onto Luke with one hand and our good umbrella with the other, while watching the tattered umbrella roll down the beach thinking "Hmmm...I hope that doesn't impail someone." As a final straw, Luke transformed himself into a crabby patty (with cheese) and decided to cry incessantly while not sleeping.

So we packed up our things and headed up the nearby canyon to a retreat called Waimea...something. There's nothing like a good botanical garden to salvage an otherwise disappointing day. It combined two of my favorite past-times: looking at strange plants and physical exercise. The waterfall at the end was very cool, but it was a good 3/4 mile hike to get there.

I got nature all over me.

We're all here for you - this is a safe place

It was wonderful to have my parents here and enjoy their company for two weeks. I'm very proud of my dad for building a successful assessment firm and grateful that it gives them the flexible schedule and available means to travel around to visit us wherever we happen to be living. Here in Hawaii they enjoyed their new prosperity by renting a silver convertible to cruise around the island. It made me a little uncomfortable that Morg was constantly pointing out how much better his Sebring was than my Saturn. I winced a little at his constant references to my being a 'professional student' who couldn't make it in the real world. But, for the most part, I just tried to enjoy the visit and overlook the various ways I don't measure up. Monday afternoon we waved good-bye as they drove their convertible to the airport.

The next morning I walked into the bathroom to discover our toothpaste was missing.

It was a surreal moment. Could Morg possibly have taken my toothpaste? Why would anyone do such a thing? My mind reeled as I tried to understand such a senseless act of cruelty. It was a brand new bottle of Crest - the expensive kind that stands upright. We spent the extra money because the kids make such a mess with the tube.
I know the extra money means nothing to a successful business owner like my dad, but for a struggling PhD candidate it's quite a lot.

Then I remembered the proverb from the Bible about the poor man who lived next to the estate of a wealthy landowner. The rich man had his friends over for a party where they all ate candy. When it was time for everyone to brush their teeth, instead of using one of his own many tubes of toothpaste (from his many bathrooms), the landowner went into the tiny bathroom cabinet of the poor man and took his small tube of toothpaste to give to his guests. I don't quite remember the end of the proverb, but I'm pretty sure the poor man got gingivitis.

I'm genuinely worried for my father. Successful people become accustomed to staying in fine hotels and being able to take whatever they want. What's going to happen the next time he stays with me, or my sister? Instead of toothpaste it might be an electric razor that's missing. Or possibly even a kitchenaid. Or a DVD player. There's no end to the damage he could do if these kleptocratic impulses go unchecked.

So I've decided to act. This year at the Strate family reunion my family and I are going to stage an intervention. We'll collectively confront my dad and explain that we love him, and we're glad he's successful, but he can't continue to plunder our bathroom cabinets in this manner. It's just not right. I'm confident that our combined love and devotion can break him of this destructive tendency.

I just hope it's not too late.

The Culture-iest Place on Earth

It's nice to have family in town because you have an excuse to take time out to all the fun things you never make time for otherwise. Friday we went with my parents to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Normally cultural means boring things like symphony's and art exhibits and monotonous museums. But this was good cultural, hula dancers, spear-throwing, and guys playing with fire.

The PCC has many different villages representing peoples from Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Marquesas. We watched a documentary in the IMAX theater which informed us about how coral reefs are dying due to climate changed and made us promise to write-in Al Gore's name for President. We watched the amazing canoe pageant go by demonstrating many traditional dances. For dinner, it was the traditional Hawaiian Luau experience. At the beginning employees dug up a pig that had been slowly roasting for hours. Then I ate it. To cap off our experience, we watched the night show performance, featuring music and dance from around the Pacific.

Note: This video has been re-edited to exclude photos that certain individuals have found objectionable.

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No Three-Peat

Join ESPN'S Tourney Challenge

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage

Group Name: 301NIBadgers

password: Madison

This year the winner will receive the envy and admiration of as many as 3-4 fellow players.

I'm easy like Sunday morning

Last Sunday we blessed Luke in Sacrament meeting. We waited a few months so that parents could be here and it was great to have my dad with me in the circle. Luke seemed to enjoy being the center of attention, and at three months old he was big enough to hold the microphone for me. So that worked out nicely.

And somehow the day got even more special when we spent the hour after church standing out in the hot sun taking pictures. The temple is right next door to our Stake Center, so we made the short jaunt over for our photo shoot. Despite the heat I was patient and considerate of others, as is my nature.

The sea was angry that day, my friends

My parents arrived in Hawaii last week. They've been staying in a beachside bungalow and spending their days walking around Laie and enjoying the pleasures of the nearby beaches. Finally on Saturday I thought we might be ready to take it up a notch (Emeril). It was time to introduce them to the realsurf. We headed up to Sunset Beach, rented some flippers, and prepared ourselves for a confrontation with the North Shore.

The confrontation didn't last long. After Morg and I had been floundering in the water for no more than fifteen minutes or so, the ocean threw our carcasses up on the shore like two pieces of sun-burned driftwood. We had been weighed. We had been measured. And we had been found wanting.

My neck will be sore for days.

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All religions teach you to be good

This year I spent my Valentine's Day down at the University of Hawaii presenting a paper at their International Graduate Student Conference. UH has the East-West Center, a pretigious area studies program that focuses on all aspects of Asia. I was one of 135 presenters from all over the United States, Canada, the PRC, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, and yes - Hawaii.

It was my first opportunity to present some of the research I conducted in Thailand last year, in between sight-seeing trips. Last month I completed a the first rough draft of a chapter to the dissertation. It examines the Thai government's attempts to eliminate the Catholic Church from Thailand. From 1940-1944, Thai authorities banned Catholic meetings in most provinces, seized or destroyed Church property, and deported or imprisoned many clergy. This campaign of persecution lasted until 1944 when it became apparent that Japan would lose the war and the Thai decided to begin preparing for an Allied return to Southeast Asia. I argue the Thai attacked the Catholic Church as one of the most prominent symbols of the old colonial order they wanted to replace. Despite never being colonized, Thai nationalism from this era was extremely anti-colonial.

It was quite possibly the greatest academic presentation in the history of the modern university. I received some very positive feedback and interesting queries from other particpants during the question and answer session. I also enjoyed other panel sessions involving a diverse array of topics including Cham inscriptions and the resurgence of identity among Taiwan's indigenous peoples. The most important part, of course, is to get the conference on your academic resume.

Next step, revise the article and send off to a journal for rejection...or, possibly publication.


I think I really connected with other students by using their question-answer time to explain why my work was so much more interesting than theirs.